Eirish

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English

Etymology

From Eire +‎ -ish. See also the usage note below.

Adjective

Eirish (not comparable)

  1. (dated, proscribed) of the state called Eire or the Republic of Ireland, as distinct from the island of Ireland
    • 1937 July 24, “Eire is airy”, in The Digest Review of Reviews; incorporating The Literary Digest, page 9:
      The new Eirish constitution never mentions the Anglo-king or Empire. ... An Eirish Supreme Court takes the place of the British Privy Council as haven of last resort.
    • 1938 May 5, Graham White Eire (Confirmation of Agreements) Bill. HC Deb vol 335 c1090
      I wonder whether there is an adjective governing the word "Eire." We have been listening to the Prime Minister and the hon. Member above the Gangway and the hon. Member for Down (Sir D. Reid) and I hoped that I should hear an adjective corresponding to the word "Eire." I do not know whether I should be in order if I said "Eirish."
    • 1938 December 17, "Obiter Dicta: Eire Abroad" The Law Journal (London) vol.86 no.3805 p.416
      So far as the appointment of Consuls or even Ministers is concerned, His Majesty holds the same position for Eire as he does for Canada or South Africa. The only variance is that in the Eirish Act "King" is spelt with a small "k."
    • 1939 November 5, Winston Churchill; cited in Winston Churchill (1950, 3rd ed.) The Second World War; Vol.1: The gathering storm (London: Cassell) p.382
      The Board must realise that we may not be able to obtain satisfaction, as the question of Eirish neutrality raises political issues which have not yet been faced, and which the First Lord is not certain he can solve.
    • 1941 Denis Johnson, cited in Theodor Fontane, 1989,Delusions, confusions; and the Poggenpuhl family (New York: Continuum) →ISBN) p.121:
      It happened that in a talk for the Overseas Service he referred to Dublin as 'the Irish capital'. The disc had been played by mistake on the Home Service and so Marshall had heard it. Johnston parried Marshall’s complaint by asserting that what he really said was 'It is the Eirish capital'!
    • 1944 April 1, George Bernard Shaw, "Eamon de Valera and the Second World War" Forward (Glasgow) -- reprinted in The matter with Ireland (University Press of Florida, 2001) p.326
      It is Mr Roosevelt’s first really stupid mistake. The Eirish leader, with all Ireland, Protestant and Catholic, behind him, Mr de Valera will tell the President, in fact, to go to hell.
    • 1948 November 24, John A. Costello, "The Republic of Ireland Bill, 1948—Second Stage" Dáil Éireann debates - Vol.113 No.3 c.395
      Section 2 provides a solution for these difficulties, and those malicious newspapers who want to refer in derogatory tones to this country as "Éire" and who have coined these contemptuous adjectives about it, such as "Eireannish" and "Eirish", and all the rest of it, will have to conform to the legal direction here in this Bill.
    • 1959, Joyce Cary, The captive and the free, (Penguin in association with Michael Joseph, 1985) →ISBN p.309:
      I know, of course, that a lot of people nowadays are all against the truth - they want a censorship - in the Spanish or Eirish style - they would like to shut up the free Press altogether.
    • 1983 August 1, “Ireland: deadlock everywhere”, in Intelligence Digest; World Report, Cheltenham, UK:
      Ulstermen are going to continue opposing all possibility of being ruled from Dublin for a dozen good reasons. One of the less important factors, but still significant in it's [sic] way, is the pathetic and time-wasting Eirish effort to re-create the Gaelic language.

Usage notes

  • Éire is the official Irish-language name of the state under its 1937 Constitution. In the United Kingdom, Eire was used in English, officially until 1949, and unofficially for decades longer; the adjective Eirish was therefore invented accordingly. However, both terms are generally proscribed in Ireland today. See the Wikipedia article on names of the Irish state for more information.

Synonyms

Noun

Eirish (uncountable)

  1. (historical) A proposed simplified standardised dialect of Irish for use by English-speaking learners

Anagrams

Scots

Adjective

Eirish (comparative mair Eirish, superlative maist Eirish)

  1. Alternative spelling of Eeirish


Had he only been an Eirish Paddy,
An' she a Biddy, he micht ha' hied,
To Maister Dickson, the morn's mornin,
To gie in the names, to ha’ them cried.
But we canna do sic things i’ Scotland

Had he only been an Irish Paddy,

and she a biddy; he might have hied
To Master Dickson, the morn's morning, to give in the names, to have them cried

But we cannot do such things in Scotland